The Health Action Hub held its bimonthly meeting on 22 April, focusing on housing and homelessness. Jenny Ombler, Research Fellow at the New Zealand Centre for Sustainable Cities and He Kāinga Oranga/Housing and Health Research Programme, presented her research on ending homelessness in Aotearoa. Her presentation was followed by a discussion with members on the gendered dimensions of homelessness, the factors contributing to women’s housing insecurity, and the challenges of finding effective solutions.

The Hub recently made a submission, led by Nicky Newton, to a UN Committee on violence against older women. We appreciate the responses from members and organisations, which enabled Nicky to identify key issues affecting older women and to make recommendations for international consideration.

The Health Select Committee has now reported back on the Improving Arrangements for Surrogacy Bill. Overall, the Bill represents a significant improvement, and many of NCWNZ’s concerns, outlined in our submission on 16 September 2024 (.pdf file, S24.15, on the NCWNZ website), have been addressed in some form. In particular, the strengthening of the rights and interests of children born through surrogacy is welcome. However, protections for surrogate mothers have been addressed less comprehensively.

Below is a series of topics that need further attention.

1. Primacy of the child’s interests

NCWNZ recommended amending the HART Act 2004 to explicitly state that the child’s interests are paramount. While this was not adopted directly, the Committee strengthened child‑centred safeguards, including:

• mandatory Oranga Tamariki reports for all surrogacy approval applications;
• expanded ECART powers to cancel approvals where conditions are not met;
• confirmation that courts must consider the Verona Principles when determining the child’s best interests; and,
• amendments to citizenship law to ensure surrogate‑born children retain New Zealand citizenship by birth.

Despite near-gender balance in the work force, women paramedics in Aotearoa New Zealand report a cycle of harmful workplace interactions — including bullying, sexual harassment, and misogyny - sustained by inadequate employer responses and a culture that discourages reporting.

These accounts come from my recent Masters study involving 148 women paramedics who shared anonymous survey responses. Their stories revealed a pattern of harmful behaviour, mostly by male colleagues - many in senior clinical or management positions- as well as some senior women colleagues and male patients.

While these behaviours had serious personal consequences for women, the perpetrators often faced no repercussions. Furthermore, inadequate responses from employers and a workplace culture that discouraged reporting allowed this behaviour to continue — pushing some women to take sick leave, reduce their hours, or consider leaving the profession altogether.

One respondent described the difficult choice women often face:

“It has been established that this behaviour is acceptable by men, and the women who don’t play along are isolated and bullied and the men who are the main offenders all hold positions of authority. So we as females have two choices, play along and be harassed, or don’t and be bullied.”

The NCWNZ Safety, Health and Wellbeing Action Hub met on 28 May with guest speaker Professor Bev Lawton ONZM, nō Ngāti Porou, who is the founder/director of Te Tātai Hauora o Hine (the National Centre for Women’s Health Research Aotearoa) at Victoria University of Wellington She presented on "What's needed for women's health in Aotearoa NZ?" 

Prof. Lawton discussed the importance of targeted health initiatives, the impact of self-testing for cervical cancer, and the broader challenges and opportunities in women's health advocacy. Prof. Lawton discussed the issues, challenges, and support needed for women's health, emphasizing the importance of implementing a cervical cancer elimination strategy. It's vital to have a screening programme, and as a scientist, it's exciting to think we can eradicate this devastating cancer, which affects women at an average age of 41, the virus can cause anal cancer, which is not widely discussed. Cervical cancer elimination is achievable if they listen to the science. WHO called for a strategy 9-10 years ago, and many countries have it. We can tweak and adopt the Australian model. Treating HPV effectively is crucial, and the evidence supports this approach.

Following the TVNZ documentary "Escaping Utopia", NCWNZ membership and member organisations began collaborating on a call for action to ensure the protection and safety of women and children in the religious cult of Gloriavale. The Safety, Health and Wellbeing Action Hub in collaboration with three other Action Hubs (Economic Independence, Education, and International) were supported by the NCWNZ Board in leading this effort. The publishing of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care report in July (see more on this in another Circular article here) spurred this initiative to contact ministers directly.  See the NCWNZ news item posted here on the NCWNZ website.

On 1 February 2024, Bernice Williams of the NCWNZ Health, Safety & Wellbeing Action Hub presented an oral submission to the Parliament's Justice Committee | Komiti Take Ture who are working on expanding the courts' power to better protect the victims of family violence in Legislation Bill 285-1. The members of the Justice Committee who heard the submission were: James Meager (Chair, National); Todd Stephenson (ACT); Marama Davidson (Green); Ginny Anderson (Labour); Dr Duncan Webb (Labour); and, Tracey McLellan (Labour). The recording with Williams' presentation can be found on the Justice Committee, New Zealand Parliament website at the minute mark 32.34 and runs about 10 minutes: https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/scl/justice/news-archive/watch-public-meetings-of-the-justice-committee/.

The NCWNZ Safety, Health and Wellbeing Action Hub valued having two speakers on endometriosis at its last meeting for 2023.

Endometriosis affects about 1 in 10 NZ women with a huge impact on lives. Supporting education, resources and a national plan for endometriosis is consistent with our support for a life-course approach to women’s health that was outlined in the submission the Hub prepared on a Women’s Health Strategy as part of the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) legislation.

For its November meeting the Safety, Health and Wellbeing Action Hub have invited a guest speaker from Endometriosis NZ (EndoNZ.org.nz). Action on endometriosis was endorsed in the NCWNZ submission that the Action Hub led by Raewyn Stone, submitted on a Women’s Health Strategy for the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act. We strongly supported EndoNZ’s advocacy for the implementation of a National Action Plan for endometriosis. Endometriosis affects approximately 120,000 women and girls in New Zealand - roughly 1 in 10 girls, women and those assigned female at birth. Getting an endometriosis plan implemented is part of our plan for women’s and girls health and wellbeing in Aotearoa.

In March the NCWNZ Safety, Health and Wellbeing Action Hub led the development of a NCWNZ submission to Manatū Hauora | Ministry of Health on New Zealand's first ever Women's Health Strategy. The Women's Health Strategy is a part of the Pae Ora (Health Futures) Act 2022 – the legislation for the country's new public health system.

NCWNZ branches and individual members made considered and informative responses to the Action Item and there was clear agreement on key points and priorities which were reflected in the submission.

Our submission emphasised the need for "early evidence of its [the Strategy's] impact, seen in real change for all women." We connected this inaugural Women's Health Strategy in New Zealand to international obligations, especially, New Zealand's commitment to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Again Women (CEDAW).

There is plenty of activity in the Safety, Health and Wellbeing Action Hub.

An exciting development coming up is contributing to the Women’s Health Strategy emerged from the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Bill. Submissions continue to be a constant activity: preparing presenting, and monitoring legislation progress afterwards and we are grateful to Raewyn Stone who leads this work. Recent and upcoming submissions include the Birth Injuries Bill, Improving Surrogacy Laws, the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Amendment Bill.